Nicholls women roll past Louisiana-Monroe

Saturday

Nov 17, 2012 at 12:01 AMNov 17, 2012 at 12:51 AM

When peering down at the final box score, one stat all but jumped off the page for the Nicholls

Thad AngellozSports Correspondent

When peering down at the final box score, one stat all but jumped off the page for the Nicholls State women's basketball team against the visiting Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks — bench points.In a game dominated from start to finish by Nicholls, it was the Colonels bench play, which accounted for 42 of their 85 points, that most impressed their head coach, DoBee Plaisance.By the time the final buzzer sounded, 10 Colonels found their way on to the box score en route to posting an 85-60 victory over the Warhawks."I'm so proud (of my team)," Plaisance said of her squad that moved to 3-1 on the season. "I would like to know when the last time we got 42 points from our bench play at Nicholls State. I can't say enough about the players stepping up and stepping in to their roles (Friday night). It wasn't just a team performance, but a gritty team performance. We did what we had to do to be successful."Leading the way in the scoring column for Nicholls was junior LiAnn McCarthy with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting. McCarthy was one of five Colonels to reach double figures scoring in the game.Not included on that list was standout point guard KK Babin, who knocked down only two baskets but made all her usual contributions handling the ball and creating opportunities for teammates."KK does good with everything and even when she isn't scoring she's busy getting everyone else going. That's what I like and respect so much about her is how unselfish she is," McCarthy said.After jumping out to a 10-2 lead on the strength of a pair of Alisha Allen layups and a Jenny Nash 3-pointer, Nicholls saw the Warhawks briefly cut in to their advantage to make it 10-6 on a Christina Gray layup at the 14:26 mark.Not to outdone, the Colonels used a 14-1 run to stake themselves a 24-7 edge after Jasmine Scott knocked down two free throws with 7:33 remaining in the first half.The closest the Warhawks (0-3) would get to Nicholls throughout the rest of the game was 34-22 late in the first half.McCarthy said from the freshmen to the seniors, everyone on the floor made it a point to push the tempo defensively for 40 minutes. The Colonels finished making the Warhawks turn it over 24 times."Coach told us not to let up at halftime because this team (ULM) is a really good team," she said. "She let us know they would go on a run and we needed to stop them from doing that."Besides McCarthy, other top scores for Nicholls included Scott with 12, Kishaun Williams with 11 and Allen and Nash, who poured in 10 apiece.The Warhawks Ashleigh Simmons led all scorers with 22 to go along with her 12 rebounds.The Colonels will return to action Monday when they host Louisiana-Lafayette at 6 p.m. in Stopher Gym.

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